


Side By Side

by lil_1337



Category: Avengers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-07
Updated: 2012-10-07
Packaged: 2017-11-15 20:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/531589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lil_1337/pseuds/lil_1337
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the <span class="ljuser i-ljuser"></span><a href="http://stagesoflove.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://stagesoflove.livejournal.com/"></a><b>stagesoflove</b> challenge.</p><p>Theme Set: Five pieces of leather - gloves, vest, pants, boots, jacket</p><p>Each each piece stands alone as a vignette into Clint and Phil's life, but together it tells the story of their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Side By Side

**Gloves: The first step is understanding**

The gloves were Clint's there was no mistaking the soft black leather or the way they were designed to protect only the undersides of the fingers and the palms. Phil swore he could see the shape of Clint's hands in them from the way they had molded to his form from wear; the stretching and shrinking from sweat, rain and salt water from a dozen ops where Clint had ended up in the ocean. Unlike his bow, arrows and quiver which he treated with a fierce protectiveness the gloves were neglected, in no small part because they made Clint's hands feel smothered unless he was actively shooting. They were the thing he took off and dropped where ever he was at the time. Currently they resided on the middle of Phil's desk lying discarded among the pens, pencils and top secret reports scattered across it.

Smiling just a little bit, Phil picked them up and went to find their owner. If it seemed like a transparent excuse to see Clint, then leaving them abandoned on top of Phil's paper work was just as see through as an invitation to be Phil and not Agent Coulson for a few stolen moments.

 

**Vest: The second step is acknowledgment**

The black leather vest is a carry over from Clint's days as a bad boy. It has five silver snaps down the front and fits like a second skin. On the back, stitched in loving detail, is a hawk in flight. Despite the battered look of the material the picture is clean and sharp as if it were new. Phil wonders idly if the vest spawned the nickname or the other way around. He knows for sure that it is something precious because of the way Clint acts when he wears it. It seems to be less of a piece of clothing and more a statement about himself. Phil is not going to give up until he learns exactly what the message it is that Clint is trying to send.

The grapevine is at it again, as usual, Phil thinks as the whispered comments about Clint and that vest swirl around him. He can see the appeal, he'd have to be blind or dead not to. Lately though, the two of them – Clint and the vest, have been showing up in Phil's erotic dreams and, as SHIELD legal would happy and extensively tell him, that was simply not okay.

 

**Pants: The third step is giving in**

The tight leather pants were a left over from an op, not something Clint would have bought for himself. They hang in his closet along with a few other strange things he's never bothered to get rid of. There's an expensive track suit he's refused to wear ever again and a western shirt with fringe on the arms as well as the pants. Clint hated wearing them when he was undercover because they did not afford a freedom of movement he feels comfortable with. However, Phil likes them and Clint has absolutely no problem with using them to seduce his handler. If he adds a button down shirt and a tie it is pretty much a given that all their clothes will end up on the floor in a messy heap that that is much more Phil than Agent Coulson.

With a gentle hand Phil folds the pants and adds them to the growing pile in the bottom drawer of his dresser. Soon one drawer and a corner of the sink is not going to be enough to contain the things that Clint keeps leaving for next time. Maybe, Phil decides, it is time to do something about combining households.

 

**Boots: The fourth step is learning to fit together**

The boots are cracked and battered looking because Clint, like all people who don't want to be seen, has taken careful pains to remove any signs of newness or shine. In the field reflective surfaces are a tell that quickly separates a dead amateur from a live professional. This pair however, like the man himself, they are much more than they appear to be. Under the ratty looking surface is a sole and frame work that is reinforced with steel for protection and strength. The inside is cushioned with memory foam to aid in comfort for a man who spends a lot of time on his feet. Quite often they can be found discarded in the middle of the living room, but for now they are standing smartly side by side in the closet. The top of one boot, flexible and soft from use, has flopped over to rest lightly against one of Phil's expensive dress shoes.

With a light chuckle Phil reaches past the footwear he planned to wear as the thought of disturbing this reminder of domesticity is too much to bear. Today, instead, he is going to have to save the world in his second favorite pair.

 

**Jacket: The fifth step is falling in love**

The jacket is made of carefully distressed brown leather and has an American flag sown over the left breast pocket. It cost Phil all of his first paycheck, which he earned bagging groceries the summer he turned sixteen, since it was a exact replica of the bomber jacket worn by Captain American. A such it was the only piece of memorabilia that Phil had never treated as a collectable once he was old enough to have a true understanding of the word. Wearing the jacket got him through some rough times in college when he was coming to terms with his sexuality and kept him focused on the goals he had set for himself. Since joining SHIELD Phil only wore it on very special occasions like anniversary dates.

Clint woke up slowly with the headache from hell and no idea where he was. His last memories were a blur of fists and bullets. The solid weight of the jacket helped to ground him as did the smell of Phil's cologne. Smiling despite his cracked lip and bruised cheekbone Clint pulled it tighter around himself. His blood was going to stain the leather and Phil didn't seem to notice or care.


End file.
